History Main / Retool

** This also happened to the 36th Sentai series TokumeiSentaiGoBusters. Before the debut it was touted as the "New Era of Super Sentai" and then set on track to become one of the lowest rated Sentai shows in the series' 36 year run. It was the first time a Sentai show had to be retooled and even then it only managed to boost the ratings slightly before they ''dropped again.''

* ''{{Bergerac}}'', the British cop show, had a bizarre final series in which the lead character relocated to France and became a private eye, to little consequence.

* [[TooGoodToLast Single-season]] sitcom ''FlyingBlind'' went through a major rework halfway through the first and only series, with the male lead leaving his job as an office drone and becoming a Creator/{{Troma}}-esque underground filmmaker instead.
* ''TheEvent'' was put on a hiatus in the middle of its first season and retooled due to low ratings. The show stopped using flashbacks to tell the story in an anachronistic style, the villains' motivations were streamlined, and the heroes made more forceful and less indecisive. This turned the show more into a ''Series/TwentyFour'' rather than a ''Series/{{Lost}}''. The show improved in ratings but was not renewed for a third season.

* ''Comicbook/{{X-Factor}}'' started off as a reunion book featuring the original five SilverAge Comicbook/XMen during a period when the actual X-Men consisted of newer characters like {{Wolverine}} and {{Storm}}. In the 90's, the book got [[ReTool ReTooled]] into government-sanctioned team of mutant superheroes lead by Havok, consisting mostly of former CListFodder characters. Peter David finally relaunched the title again in 2005 as a [[FilmNoir Noir]] detective title consisting of a bunch of former {{X-Force}} and Comicbook/GenerationX members.

* Struggling soap ''{{Loving}}'' moved from its suburban setting to New York City and became ''TheCity''. The retooled version wasn't any more successful than the original, and the show was soon cancelled.

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' underwent a retool in its third season because of the long-running Kazon plotline. The Season 3 premiere, "Basics Part II" effectively ended their storyline because Paramount executives complained that it wasn't exciting enough, which the fans agreed with, noting that the Kazon were akin to the Ferengi in the BadassOnPaper department. In Season 4, the show was retooled again by swapping out Jennifer Lien for Jeri Ryan, and introducing Species 8472 and the Hirogen as new threats.

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' underwent a retool in its third season because of the long-running Kazon plotline. The Season 3 premiere, "Basics Part II" effectively ended their storyline because Paramount executives complained that it wasn't exciting enough. In Season 4, the show was retooled again by swapping out Jennifer Lien for Jeri Ryan, and introducing Species 8472 and the Hirogen as new threats.

** It was brought back soon after around the time of New Avengers' release with a cast featuring some new characters as well as old ones until the Marvel crossover event ''ComicBook/CivilWar''.

* Each season, ''PrisonBreak'' went through went through a dramatic change in tone and style, though the main cast and the overarching story continued throughout the series. Season 1 is comparable to ''EscapeFromAlcatraz'', season 2 is ''Series/TheFugitive'', season 3 is ''Midnight Express'' (or at least, that's what the writers were shooting for) and season 4 is ''MissionImpossible''.

** In addition, they made Team Rocket far more threatening then in previous sagas where they were everyone's {{Butt Monkey}}s

* BeetleBailey moved from college to the army very early in the series' run.

* The British magazine ''heat'' launched as an entertainment-focused, hipper alternative to the {{RadioTimes}}. Although this was well-received, it didn't do well commercially. A series of quick makeovers saw it repositioned as a more downmarket, gossip and soap/reality-celebrity focused magazine aimed mainly at women, and it's now one of the UK's biggest-selling magazines.

* The British magazine heat launched as an entertainment-focused, hipper alternative to the {{RadioTimes}}. Although this was well-received, it didn't do well commercially, and after a series of quick makeovers was repositioned as a more downmarket, gossip and soap/reality-celebrity focused magazine aimed mainly at women.

* ''Series/{{TopGear}}'' originally ran from 1977 until 2001, when it was cancelled. Although it relaunched just a year later in 2002, "new" Top Gear is fundamentally different in spirit and character to its predecessor. The original was an informative/factual news and review magazine about cars, and though it became far less dry and more entertaining in the way it did this as time went on, at heart it remained true to that. While the relaunched format isn't uninformative (and does overlap the original in places), it's clear that its ultimate focus is to entertain the viewer, with everything in the end serving that purpose. Unlike the original, it's far more studio based, and more focused on the characters and interplay of the presenters- often intentionally played-up- with the cars often being a means to that end, rather than the point in themselves. Much of the show essentially lets the viewer indulge (by proxy) in what James May himself called "self-indulgent cocking-about".

* ''Series/{{TopGear}}'' originally ran from 1977 until 2001, when it was cancelled. Although it relaunched just a year later in 2002, "new" Top Gear is fundamentally different in spirit and character to its predecessor. The original was an informative/factual news and review magazine about cars, and though it became far less dry and more entertaining in the way it did this as time went on, at heart it remained true to that. While the relaunched format isn't uninformative (and does overlap the original in places), it's clear that its ultimate focus is to entertain the viewer, with everything in the end serving that purpose. Unlike the original, it's far more studio based, and more focused on the characters and interplay of the presenters- often intentionally played-up- with the cars often being a means to that end, rather than the point in themselves. Much of the show essentially lets the viewer indulge (by proxy) in what James May himself called "self-indulgent cocking-about". YourMileageMayVary on whether this is a Good or a Bad Thing.

* ''Series/{{TopGear}}'' originally ran from 1977 until 2001, when it was cancelled. Although it was relaunched in 2002 after just a year, the "new" Top Gear is fundamentally different in spirit and character to its predecessor. The original was an informative/factual news and review magazine about cars, and though it became far less dry and more entertaining in the way it did this as time went on, at heart it remained true to that. While the relaunched format isn't uninformative, the ultimate focus is clearly on entertaining the viewer, with everything in the end serving that purpose. Unlike the original, it's far more studio based, and more focused on the characters and interplay of the presenters, with the cars often being a means to that end, rather than the end in themselves.

** The change in scale is significant here- unlike the ambitious, near-filmic original, the second series was far more small-scale and almost entirely studio-based. While this was pretty much forced on them due to the budget being reduced, Ben Elton (who replaced Atkinson in the writing partnership) also told Curtis he thought they should have done it in front of a studio audience anyway. In addition, he said "Doing it on film in this glorious sort of vastness was probably a mistake. Rowan falling off a horse at 200 metres is not really any funnier than anyone else falling off a horse at 200 metres- get the camera in close and he’ll make you laugh." [[http://www.blackadderhall.com/?page_id=358]]

** The change in scale is particularly notable (and important) here. Unlike the ambitious, near-filmic original, the second series was far more small-scale and almost exclusively studio-based. While this was pretty much forced on them due to the budget being slashed this time round, Ben Elton (who replaced Atkinson in the writing partnership) also told Curtis he thought they should have done it in front of a studio audience anyway. He also commented "Doing it on film in this glorious sort of vastness was probably a mistake. Rowan falling off a horse at 200 metres is not really any funnier than anyone else falling off a horse at 200 metres- get the camera in close and he’ll make you laugh."[http://www.blackadderhall.com/?page_id=358]

** This also happened to the current Sentai series TokumeiSentaiGoBusters. Before the debut it was touted as the "New Era of Super Sentai" and then set on track to become one of the lowest rated Sentai shows in the series' 36 year run. It was the first time a Sentai show had to be retooled and even then it only managed to boost the ratings slightly before they ''dropped again.''

** An in-universe example happens when the show's ratings go down a tiny bit and the executives decide to add a few new changes to the show. Instead of a lab, they now live in a house in the suburbs with they're [[CousinOliver adopted kids]] (one of them being an [[FamilyMatters Urkel]] [[{{Expy}} Expy)]] and a [[RobotBuddy sassy robot.]] [[WhoWritesThisCrap Naturally, Brain immediately quits.]] It's been suggested that this was written as a response to what the writers knew was coming. The network didn't get the message and the retooled series lasted five or so episodes.

[[folder:Film]]

** And after this direction proved disastrous in the follow-up film, ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', the series lay dormant for eight years until a ContinuityReboot retooled the series again, putting as much distance as possible between the Batman franchise and the embarrassment that JoelSchumacher had turned it into, resulting in ''Creator/ChristopherNolan'''s darker, more realistic, and more grounded ''Film/BatmanBegins'', which became the first of a trilogy, ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'', that is praised as a return to form for the series.

** ...Which was ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace''; now ''there'' was a retool. We leave "kids in high school battle the MonsterOfTheWeek and go home" behind and have more arc-based series with the Rangers, well, [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]]]] and the villains of all past series having formed a LegionOfDoom. Part of why it was so epic is that they wanted the franchise to go out with a bang, but by the time it was over, fans underwhelmed by Turbo and ''then'' hit with the loss of their favorite characters had forgiven the SeasonalRot and wanted more. [[LongRunners They're still getting it]].
** It seems you get the best series when ThePowersThatBe think it's ending. ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' was also supposed to be the last season.

** An in-universe example happens when the show's ratings go down a tiny bit and the executives decide to add a few new changes to the show. Instead of a lab, they now live in a house in the suburbs with they're [[CousinOliver adopted kids]] (one of them being an [[FamilyMatters Urkel]] [[{{Expy}} Expy)]] and a [[RobotBuddy sassy robot.]] [[WhoWritesThisCrap Naturally, Brain immediately quits.]]